“I’ve tried repairing the breach between Jacey and me, but she always insisted I stay away, that you never needed to know. She said it would rattle you too much. But I don’t like secrets, Gabrielle.”
“Neither do I,” Goldie managed.
“I’ve wanted to fix things between us for so long. Her pride would never let her welcome me in, not as long as you were in the dark about all of this. But now that you know, maybe she’ll let me talk to her again. She’ll—”
Goldie was speechless. She could well believe it of her—well, of Jacey Bybanks—to keep her own sister half a country away because of pride.
Bethany rose. “I’m sorry to do it like this. I would have preferred a much different approach, where both of your parents were on board.”
“And the reason you weren’t here when I got to town? I emailed you several times. I stopped by every day.”
Bethany had the decency to lower her head. “Your mom contacted me. She told me to ignore your emails and that you’d come back home if I did. I didn’t want to, I replied to the first one you sent. But I was working with the fundraiser the day you arrived, and then I was cowardly after that. I was scared.”
Goldie bit back a scoff. “Scared?” Of her?
“I know it sounds silly, but this isn’t exactly an easy thing for me. I loved you. I wanted you. I couldn’t keep you, and I’ve thought about you every day for years, wishing I could send you cards on your birthdays or call you to see how your life was turning out. I guess I was scared I’d mess this up, too.”
She was wringing her hands and staring at Goldie with pleading in her eyes. Goldie couldn’t process it all. In all the times she’d wondered why her aunt had been ostracized, why her aunt had asked her to travel across the country to see her, she never would have imagined this.
“I need to go,” Goldie said, rising. “I need to think this over.”
Bethany gripped the back of the chair. Her eyes were wide, her face pale. “I understand.”
Goldie made for the door, pausing at the sight of the gray cat sleeping lazily on the back of the couch. She turned back. “You should know, I’m leaving. They gave me two weeks off, but it took three days to get out here, and I’ve waited for three more since searching for you. I have to make it back in time if I want to keep my job. I have to leave.” More so now than ever. She needed to speak with her—well—with the woman she’d thought was her mother.
Bethany folded her arms. “I understand. Thank you for telling me. And Gabrielle?”
Goldie paused at the door and kept her gaze on the blue paint.
“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry.”
Sorry she’d given her up? Sorry for contacting her at all? Sorry for avoiding her? Goldie couldn’t be sure, but in the moment she didn’t want to know. She’d had enough bombshells for one day. It was like cold oatmeal, bland and lumpy and distasteful, making her want to spit out every bite she’d been fed. She couldn’t digest this, not now. Maybe not ever.
Goldie turned the knob and headed back out to her truck.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
ADRIAN NEVER THOUGHT HE WOULD willingly come here again. Then again, he never thought his mom would have entrusted his inheritance to Danica Foster, either. So many memories were resurfacing, of ten, even twelve years before, back when he’d thought things could be different. He’d thought he could, in fact, set up his business while living at the ranch, to be closer to his family. His mother had been converting their home to a bed and breakfast while his father had been working on constructing a pair of homes. One for him and Danica. One for the rest of them.
But the closer he and Dani had stepped to matrimony, the more choked he’d felt. It was as though a rope had been tied around his torso, securing his arms to his sides, and he’d been gradually dragged toward the edge of a cliff. He couldn’t take that plunge with her. Not then, and certainly not now.
Seeing the house his dad had already begun to build had been the last straw. He’d been tired of his father trying to control everything he did. Never mind that he wasn’t sure he wanted to live right next door to his parents, in the house Chase and Kimmy ended up inheriting instead. Never mind that he was trying to get his own two feet on the ground. Never mind that Danica seemed to confide more in his mom than she did in him. It wasn’t the kind of relationship he’d ever wanted.
Standing here on Danica’s sidewalk, he was reminded of exactly all the reasons why he’d left.
Even so, the feelings he’d had then weren’t making their usual appearance. He expected the typical impatience to get outta Dodge, to leave this all behind and make for Chicago as soon as he could. To solitude and busyness and distraction.
Gabby was his hesitation now. Adrian meant what he’d told his mom, when he’d confessed his feelings about Gabby. The problem was, he wasn’t quite sure what to do about those feelings, not until he got his father’s lockbox.
He also hoped things were going well with her aunt, who may or may not be her birth mother. He hoped she would understand why he hadn’t told her the truth himself.
Resting his sunglasses on his head, he gritted his teeth and made for the door.
Danica jerked it open after the first knock. She looked casual in jeans and a knotted gray T-shirt. “You came,” she said brightly. “I’ve been waiting all day after your mom told me you wouldn’t be there—”
“It’s no use,” he said, resting a hand on the door jamb. He couldn’t believe how badly he was trembling. Out of anger, frustration, flat out disbelief, he couldn’t be sure. “I loved you once, but I don’t anymore, Dani. I’ve moved on. I need you to accept that.”
Her lips flattened into a thin line. She folded her arms and cocked her hip. “And if I don’t want to?”
“You can’t force a hard chair to feel like a soft one. Please. I think you have something that belongs to me.”
Her mouth gaped. “Your mom told you?”
“She did. Which means I think you know it’s over for good this time.”
He knew how harsh he sounded, and part of him regretted the words. But he’d tried to help her get the hint in much nicer ways than this so many times before now, and she wasn’t getting it. If there was anything he’d learned in business, it was that bluntness was sometimes necessary. It would be better for Dani in the long run too, not to think fondly of him.
Danica pouted her lip, inhaled, and nodded in defeat. “I’ll be right back.”
He noticed she didn’t invite him in, and that was just fine. He waited at her eave, tossing his key fob from one hand to the other impatiently.
Minutes later, Dani returned with a gray lockbox under her arm and passed it over. Adrian’s blood split, scattering in all directions inside of him. He couldn’t believe the shock, the relief washing over him now that he finally had the thing in his grip. All the questions he’d had since the trust had been read spiraled through his mind. Of his father’s vast fortune, of all the other things he could have bestowed to his firstborn son, he’d given him a container no bigger than a shoebox.
“You never should have kept this from me.”